Lottery tracking and display device

ABSTRACT

A portable lottery tracking and display device attachable to the belt, pocket, or purse of the lottery game player provides the lottery player with immediate knowledge of the winning lottery numbers from lottery drawings includes a housing having a clip for attachment to clothing articles, electronic circuitry enclosed within the housing for receiving the lottery number transmissions and converting them to visually discernible symbols, function buttons for controlling various parameters of the device and read-out displays for visually displaying the winning lottery numbers from several different types of lottery games to the lottery player.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to information receiving devices, andmore particularly pertains to a portable device for providing real timelottery number selection information to lottery number players.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Lotteries are one of the most popular games of chance and are played bymillions of people in settings that range from community fundraisingevents to state lotteries where the payouts can be in the tens andhundreds of millions of dollars. The announcement of the daily lotterynumbers is an event keenly anticipated and watched by millions ofindividuals, especially if it is a major lottery drawing such as a statePower Ball drawing. Lottery ticket holders gather around television setsand lottery ticket booths and kiosks awaiting the televised lotterydrawing, and if it is a major drawing, such as a Power Ball drawing,news reporters and television cameras may be there to record the scene.

However, it is not always convenient or possible to have ready access toa television—or even a radio—when the lottery numbers are drawn—normallyat a fixed and predetermined time and date. Given the potential payoffthat can accompany some type of lottery drawings, it is understandablethat lottery players would want to receive immediate information on thenumbers drawn for the particular lottery that they have played.

Thus, the prior art discloses various types of electronic orcomputerized video game playing systems and devices pertaining to gamesof chance such as lotteries. For example, Gluz et al. patent (U.S. Pat.No. 4,378,940) discloses an electronic bingo, lotto and card playingdevice that includes a keyboard, a card-input assembly,numeric/alphanumeric displays for communicating with the player andvisual indicators so that the player can view all phases of the game.

The Holch et al. patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,674,128, 5,800,269, 6,089,982and 6,280,328 B1) all disclose video game methods and systems foroperating electronic games for a number of players, and each systemincludes a game server coupled to a plurality of player terminals, and acentral controller so that game selection and player account informationcan be stored and processed on an ongoing basis.

The Olson patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,062) discloses a lotto gamingapparatus that includes a number of lotto machines interconnected to acasino master controller through a local network connection so that theagainst a lotto gaming apparatus and the casino lotto machine.

Nonetheless, there remains a need for a handy, simple to use device thatimmediately informs the lottery player of the winning numbers for thatdays lottery and which is portable so that the lottery player can gethis or her numbers without requiring access to a radio or television.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprehends a portable lottery tracking anddisplay device for immediately displaying winning lottery numbers to alottery player, and includes a housing having a clip for attaching thehousing to an article of clothing or accessory such as a belt, pocket orpurse. Enclosed within the housing is a receiver that allows the deviceto receive transmissions from the lottery computer site, andconventional electronic elements such as a pc card, memory storage,diodes, transducers, etc. that convert the received transmissions intovisually readable characters. The device includes several functionbuttons on the housing that allow the lottery player to access,manipulate and change certain parameters pertaining to the storage ofthe lottery numbers, the clearing or resetting of the device, and forvisually illuminating the winning lottery numbers appearing on one ormore read-out displays. The read-out displays can be configured todisplay the winning lottery numbers from a number of different types oflottery games.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a lotterytracking and display device that enables the lottery player toimmediately view that night's winning lottery numbers for particularlottery games.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a lotterytracking and display device that allows the lottery player to know thewinning lottery numbers for that particular lottery drawing even thoughthe lottery player does not have access to radio or television.

It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide alottery tracking and display device that is small and lightweight andeasily attachable to a belt, purse, or pocket.

It is still yet another objective of the present invention to provide alottery tracking and display device that is portable, handy to accessand use, and unobtrusive when attached to the lottery player's articleof clothing.

Still yet another objective of the present invention is to provide alottery tracking and display device that is simple to use and operate byany lottery player.

A still further objective of the present invention is to provide alottery tracking and display device that increases the enjoyment ofplaying the lottery by making the playing of the lottery more accessibleand time saving.

A still yet further objective of the present invention is to provide alottery tracking and display device that will increase lottery ticketsales thereby generating more revenue for state lotteries.

These and other objects, features and advantages will become apparent toone skilled in the art upon a perusal of the following detaileddescription read in conjunction with the appended drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lottery tracking and display deviceof the present invention illustrating the front of the device and thecontrol and read-out buttons and displays;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the lottery tracking and display deviceof the present invention illustrating the rear of the device and theclip that allows attachment of the device to various articles ofclothing;

FIG. 3 is a schematic layout of the lottery tracking and display deviceof the present invention illustrating the transmission of lotterynumbers from a lottery mainframe computer to several dispersed lotterytracking and display devices;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the lottery tracking and display deviceillustrating two primary electronic components of the device; and

FIG. 5 is a general electrical schematic of the lottery tracking anddisplay device illustrating one embodiment of an electrical layout forthe device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 is a device for receiving transmissions from acentral site and immediately displaying to the user visual informationpertaining to the transmission, and information for which the user hasbeen awaiting with eager anticipation. Specifically, the presentinvention includes a lottery tracking and display device 10 that isportable and easily attachable and removable from the lottery player'sclothing, such as the belt, pocket, purse, handbag, or backpack, so thatthe lottery player can be informed of the winning lottery numberselections despite being remote from access to television or radio. Thelottery device 10 is lightweight and durable and includes a shock proof,preferably plastic, housing or shell 12. The housing 12 includes a frontor facing side 14 and an opposite rear side 16.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing 12 includes on the rear side 16 aclip 18 that can easily slide over and upon the aforementioned clothingarticles for allowing the device 10 to be portable and carried by thelottery player; and the device 10 can be easily removed from attachmentto the clothing article by lifting the clip 18 up and off the clothingarticle. The device 10 is small and lightweight and can be thustransported in a purse or pocket should the user desire.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the front side 14 of the housing 12 includesa number of buttons, switches and displays so that the lottery numberselection can be immediately visually discernible to the lottery player.The front side 14 of the housing 12 includes a power switch 20 forturning the device 10 on and off so that the power source is notunnecessarily depleted. In addition, at least three function buttons areincluded on the front side 14 to control and change various parametersand features of the device 10. The function buttons include a storebutton 22 for storing a given number of lottery drawings (for example,the last ten Power Ball drawings), a light button 24 for illuminatingthe device 10 so that the lottery player can view the day's lotterynumbers if he or she is not in a well-lit location, and a clear or resetbutton 26 for clearing the device 10 so that memory space is not used upand new lottery numbers can be accepted for display.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the device 10 also includes a pluralityof visual read-out or display panels, and the read-out panels arepreferably LCD displays. In the embodiment of the present invention,three separate read-out panels are shown for displaying the winninglottery numbers for different lotteries from any given state; thus oneread-out panel 28 displays the winning numbers for the Pick 3 lotterydrawing, one read-out panel 30 displays the winning numbers drawn forthe Pick 4 lottery drawing, and one read-out panel 32 displays thewinning numbers drawn for Lotto 6 drawing. FIG. 3 is a schematic viewshowing one possible configuration for the use of the device 10 whereina mainframe computer 34 at the given state's lottery drawing sitetransmits the winning lottery selections to a number of lottery devices10 carried by lottery players widely scattered from each other and thelottery drawing transmission site.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate embodiments for electrical layouts andschematics for the device 10 based on the use of conventional electroniccomponents and elements. FIG. 4 illustrates a primary pc card or board36 and the memory storage unit 38 that can be configured and sized asdesired to hold the results of lottery drawings organized by time ornumber of drawings. FIG. 5 illustrates a general electrical schematiclayout 40 that includes a receiver 42 for receiving the electricaltransmissions from the lottery computer 34, an amplifier 44 foramplifying the signal, and a rectifier 46 for transforming the signal tothe appropriate type of current. In addition, the pc card 36 includesthe cpu 48 (the microcontroller) and the memory storage unit 38.Electrically interconnected to the pc card 36 are the three functionbuttons 22, 24, and 26, and the three read-out panels or displays 28,30, and 32. A power source 50, such as a nickel cadmium or lithiumbattery, provides power for the device 10, and the power on/off switch20 is shown mounted to the housing 12 of the device 10.

The device 10 can be used in a number of different ways to provide thelottery player with immediate information of the winning lottery numbersdrawn for one or more lotto games. For example, lottery player couldselect and play his or her numbers for that day's Pick 3, Pick 4 or BigGame Pick 6 drawing at the local convenience store. The lottery device10 would be powered on and that evening as the winning numbers arepicked at the lottery drawing location, the winning numbers for thevarious lottery games would be transmitted to all lottery agent sites,and simultaneously and immediately, the winning numbers would bereceived by the device 10 and displayed on one or more of the read-outpanels 28, 30, and 32. By using the store button 22 the lottery playercan store the winning numbers so that the winning numbers can be writtendown, or upon viewing the numbers, the lottery player can depress theclear button 26 to clear the device 10 and ready it to receive furtherlottery drawing numbers.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modificationsand alterations may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A portable lottery tracking and display device for displaying thewinning lottery numbers for lottery games, comprising: a lightweighthousing having a front side and an opposite rear side; a clip mounted onthe rear side for slidable attachment to an article of clothing; a poweron/off switch for turning the device on and off; a plurality of manuallymanipulable function buttons for operating and changing variousfunctions and parameters of the device; a plurality of read-out displaypanels electrically interconnected to the function buttons for visuallydisplaying the winning lottery numbers from at least one lottery game;and electrical circuitry electrically interconnected to the functionbuttons and the read-out panels including a pc card, a memory storageunit, and a receiver for receiving lottery transmissions from thecentral lottery site and immediately displaying the winning lotterynumbers for that day's lottery on the read-out panels so that thelottery player is instantly informed of the winning lottery drawingnumbers.
 2. The lottery tracking and display device of claim 1 whereinone function button is a store button that allows the lottery player tostore winning lottery numbers in the memory storage unit.
 3. The lotterytracking and display device of claim 2 wherein one function button is aclear button that allows the lottery player to clear the device of oldlottery numbers so that the device can receive new lottery numbers. 4.The lottery tracking and display device of claim 3 wherein one functionbutton is a light button that allows the lottery player to light up theread-out panels so that the read-out panels are visually discernible insituations of inadequate or no light.
 5. The lottery tracking anddisplay device of claim 4 wherein the read-out panels are configured tovisually display the winning lottery numbers for different lottery gamessuch as the Pick 3, Pick 4 and Lotto 6 lottery games.
 6. A method ofkeeping the lottery player immediately informed of the drawing oflottery numbers for a given state's lottery when the lottery playerdoesn't have access to television or radio, comprises the steps of:selecting the lottery numbers for at least one lottery game by thelottery player at the local lottery sales site; powering on a lotterytracking and display device; carrying the lottery tracking and displaydevice with the lottery player; transmitting the winning lottery numbersto the lottery tracking and display device as the winning lotterynumbers are drawn at the central lottery site; viewing the winninglottery numbers on a plurality of read-out panels on the lotterytracking and display device so that the lottery player is immediatelyinformed of the winning lottery numbers for that particular lotterydrawing.